Boxing is just one of the hardest sporting activities around. Three-minute rounds with one-minute rests means that fighters must be supremely fit. Boxers also have to be strong, powerful, have tremendous core strength, and be fast, agile and skilled. They also need to not mind getting hit but that’s a whole different type of fitness!
There are a number of traditional types of training that most fighters engage in including road work, sparring, body weight and weight training workouts, working the heavy bag and speed ball and skipping rope. Jump rope is good for most people but it is especially useful for fighters.
Making use of a skipping rope can help a fighter develop some critical fitness components and abilities that transfer very well to the ring. Regular skipping rope workouts will…
• Improve fitness
• Improve endurance
• Enhance foot speed
• Improve speed
• Improve coordination
• Help with weight control
• Improve footwork
It’s no wonder then that speed rope and jumping rope training is so commonly connected with fighters and boxing. Heck– there is even a skipping rope technique called the boxer’s skip!
So what are the most effective skipping rope workouts for fighters? Excellent question! When it comes to skipping rope training for fighters you are really only limited by your imagination when designing workouts but to save you having to flex your grey-matter too much, below are some tried and tested boxing skipping rope exercise programs.
1.Three-minute rounds
Skip for 3 mins then rest for one, similar to real rounds of boxing. Mix up your strategies during each round and include tricks like double unders, crossovers and travelling. Make your exercise mirror the ebb and flow of a real fight.
2. Tabata double unders
To really crank up your heart rate, do 20-seconds of double unders (2 rope turns per jump) then rest ten seconds. Repeat 8 to ten times for a short but extremely intense exercise.
3. Heavy bag and skipping rope intervals
Hit the bag for 60-seconds then skip rope for 60-seconds for an active recovery. Continue alternating boxing and skipping for twenty mins or more. Make sure you mix up your punching combinations and also inject some more advanced skipping rope skills to keep things interesting.
4. Burpee and skipping rope descending pyramid
Do ten burpees then skip rope 50 times. Do 9 burpees and skip rope once again 50 times. Keep doing one less burpee until you get all the way down to one. Make sure you skip rope as fast as you can as this exercise is against the clock.
To get the most from these or other skipping rope workouts, you need the ideal equipment which means getting the most effective skipping rope you can. Speed ropes are ideal and wire ropes are even better as they fly round very quickly and smoothly. A good boxing skipping rope will certainly make your workouts more effective as you will trip less and be able to skip rope more smoothly.